1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to boat launching facilities for trailerable boats, and more particularly to a movable flat on which an individual stands while launching a boat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Boats of either the motorized or sailing variety are commonly carried from place to place on trailers which are towed by motorized vehicles. These trailerable boats are generally placed into a body of water by backing the trailer down an inclined launching ramp into the water, releasing the boat from the trailer and then driving the vehicle forwardly up the ramp to remove the trailer from the water. When the boat is to be removed from the water, the reverse procedure is followed.
During a boat launching or removal operation it is often necessary to manipulate the boat from the side, necessitating that the boater step into the water adjacent the boat. This technique is undesirable since the boater's clothing often becomes wet and the water may be uncomfortably cold. Furthermore, it is sometimes difficult to adequately maneuver the boat while standing in water well below the deck of the boat, particularly where the boat is large, the wind is heavy, or the surface of the water is rough.
To alleviate the problem of wading in the water to launch a boat, floats have been used in connection with loading ramps to allow boaters to stand on the float adjacent the boat during a launching or removal operation. This technique is adequate where the water level does not fluctuate substantially so that the water line at the ramp is fairly constant. However, where inclined launching ramps are used with bodies of salt water or lakes having widely fluctuating water levels, the water line of the ramp fluctuates accordingly. Since the float should be positioned in the water closely adjacent the water line of the ramp, it is necessary to move the float along the ramp or to otherwise compensate for water level variations. Two techniques have been employed to accomplish this function.
The most commonly used technique for compensating for water level variations is to pivotally interconnect a number of floats so that the floats are successively grounded as the water level falls, yet sufficient numbers of floats are provided so that at least some of the floats are always floating. This technique may be satisfactory for bodies of water in which the water level does not fluctuate appreciably. However, for widely fluctuating water levels the number of floats required to compensate for water level variations is unacceptably large. Also, it is difficult to adequately prevent transverse movement of a large number of pivotally interconnected floats where only the inner float is connected to a ramp. In order to allow single floats to be used with ramps for launching boats into a body of water in which the water level fluctuates a great deal, mechanisms have been tried for moving the float in accordance with the variations in water level. However, such devices use either the buoyancy of the float or a counterweight to move the float up the ramp when the water level increases, and gravity acting on either the float or a weight to move the float down the ramp when the water level falls. Movable float systems utilizing this technique have not functioned acceptably, principally because the forces of buoyancy and gravity must continually move the float up the ramp as the water level rises, or down the ramp as the water level falls.
This angular movement causes severe binding action which quickly overcomes the floats buoyancy reserves or gravity forces thus immobilizing the float.